New Face of Anti-Discrimination

RIT has been having an extraordinary year in terms of performers and speakers. Over this past summer (summer of 2005), Lynyrd Skynryd. Brick City Festival brought us the talented Jason Mraz, the wise Rudy Giuliani and the witty Jon Stewart. Lastly, CAB brought in Carlos Menica and Josh Blue.

For those of you that never have never seen or heard of Carlos Mencia, he's a stand-up comedian that now hosts the appropriately named Mind of Menica on Comedy Central. Despite the fact that he tells jokes, he carries a serious message, that we - all races, religions, and types of people - should just get along with each other and not be afraid to make fun of one and other. He makes sure to point out this undertone as his jokes can be a little jaring to those sensitive to political correctness. Because of this, Mencia has become the face of anti-discrimination by, ironically, telling jokes that focus on racial stereotypes. At the end of the show, he presents the question:

"People ask...Carlos, why can't you just tell jokes that don't offend anyone and bring people together? But then I look around the room and see whites, blacks, hispanics, deaf people, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus - all coming together and laughing at the same jokes."

And it's so true. Not to brag, but I think that my roomies and I get along far better than I've seen in any other living situations. Yet, we all have dramatically different backgrounds. Eric is a VERY devout Christian (commonly my sworn political enemies), Karl was born in Poland (let's just say my Jewish-Polish ancestors didn't leave there because the country liked Jews too much), and Yi Fan is from Hong Kong. Yet, the four of us are practically like brothers and I think a large part of that comes from the jokes about our respective cultures that we make towards each other. How can racial tension exist if you're laughing about it?

Preach, preach, preach. Anywho...

One of my oldest friends, Nate, came in from out of town to hang out with us Rochester folk and go see Carlos Mencia. We went, we laughed (oh, and did we laugh...stomach still hurting...), and then ate at the age old favorite, Denny's. Good times - good times.

Saturday was a bunch of fun too. Gabby hosted a pot-luck dinner where everyone brings a dish or dessert. The night was amazing, got to see several friends that I hadn't seen for awhile, and met a few new people that I'd be thrilled to see again. Card games, "board" games, and video games - twas fun indeed.

(Gabby and Wallace trying to destroy each other in Donkey Konga - a bongo/beat video game)